and many more benefits!

Find us on Facebook

GMAT Club Timer Informer

Hi GMATClubber!

Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:

Hide Tags

Which of the following most logically completes the passage? [#permalink]

Show Tags

30 Oct 2012, 06:29

2

This post wasBOOKMARKED

00:00

A

B

C

D

E

Difficulty:

(N/A)

Question Stats:

70%(02:01) correct
30%(02:16) wrong based on 76 sessions

HideShow timer Statistics

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

California levies its real-estate tax as a percentage of a property's assessed value. California reassessed all properties late last year, ensuring that this year's real-estate tax on a given property fairly reflects that property's current value. By comparison with the previous assessment 3 years ago, the mean assessed property value was considerably lower. Nonetheless, the mean real-estate tax bill sent to California’s property owners this year is likely to be no lower than last year's, because __________.

A. the assessed value of relatively modest properties in California went down more, on average, than that of more valuable propertiesB. actual selling prices of properties sold in California so far this year have been higher, on average, than assessed valuesC. a likely consequence of declining real-estate values in California will be a general slow-down in the local economyD. there have been many real-estate transactions over the last year, and many current property owners did not own California property a year agoE. the real-estate tax rate in California has not been set for this year, but will probably be higher than last year's rate

Show Tags

30 Oct 2012, 11:03

gmatbull wrote:

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

California levies its real-estate tax as a percentage of a property's assessed value. California reassessed all properties late last year, ensuring that this year's real-estate tax on a given property fairly reflects that property's current value. By comparison with the previous assessment 3 years ago, the mean assessed property value was considerably lower. Nonetheless, the mean real-estate tax bill sent to California’s property owners this year is likely to be no lower than last year's, because __________.

A. the assessed value of relatively modest properties in California went down more, on average, than that of more valuable propertiesB. actual selling prices of properties sold in California so far this year have been higher, on average, than assessed valuesC. a likely consequence of declining real-estate values in California will be a general slow-down in the local economyD. there have been many real-estate transactions over the last year, and many current property owners did not own California property a year agoE. the real-estate tax rate in California has not been set for this year, but will probably be higher than last year's rate

Please support your answers with explanations

Tought between B and E but I chose E over B.

My observations:Last sentence in text says that tax "IS LIKELY" to be no lower ...Answer E says "PROBABLY" tax will be higher.

My doubts about B are a bit dubious but at least more than they are for E:1. "Selling price' as mentioned in B may be assumed as a cause for the higher tax but is not mentioned in the text.2. I don't think "selling price" is a factor that supports the text, which states "...real-estate tax as a percentage of a property's assessed value". This makes me think that regardless of the [high or low] selling price, assessed value of land is different.

Show Tags

30 Oct 2012, 11:34

Going with the flow of the question, E seems preferable over others in that it quite explicitly mentions the reason even though the rates are not assessed, the bills are likely to be higher.When choosing B, we have to make an assumption that the seller must sell its property at the assessed value.Was stuck over D for sometime, but no way we can infer info that even if many transactions took place last year, the property tax will be higher this year.+1 E.What's OA, OE and source?Nice question though.
_________________

Show Tags

Can we make a proper analysis of our own- especially with reference to this quote? By comparison with the previous assessment 3 years ago, the mean assessedproperty value was considerably lower. Nonetheless, the mean real-estate tax bill sent to California’sproperty owners this year is likely to be no lower than last year's, because __________.OE not available....Thanks.
_________________

Show Tags

Can we make a proper analysis of our own- especially with reference to this quote? By comparison with the previous assessment 3 years ago, the mean assessedproperty value was considerably lower. Nonetheless, the mean real-estate tax bill sent to California’sproperty owners this year is likely to be no lower than last year's, because __________.OE not available....Thanks.

The only real viable options are B and E. But the first sentence clearly says that taxes are levied only on the basis of the assessed values. So selling price is immaterial. Option E clearly provides an explanation of how the tax bill would remain the same even though the assessed values had decreased.

Kudos Please... If my post helped.
_________________

Did you find this post helpful?... Please let me know through the Kudos button.

Show Tags

31 Oct 2012, 10:32

I now understand the meaning of the statement below:Mean real-estate tax bill is not likely to be lower than last year's because the real-estate tax rate has not been set for this year, and will probably be higher than last yr's.

You cannot determine the tax bill without first knowing what assessed rate to use; Is that correct?
_________________

Re: Which of the following most logically completes the passage? [#permalink]

Show Tags

11 Dec 2015, 16:26

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

gmatclubot

Re: Which of the following most logically completes the passage?
[#permalink]
11 Dec 2015, 16:26